


1 Notification Away

by KastleInTheSky



Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Drunk Kim, Drunk Texting, Drunk Trini, F/M, Instagram, Jason is a gentleman, Kim and Trini friendship, Kim is confused, Kim is constantly worried about the dynamic, One Shot, Trini as wingman, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 11:48:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11531601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KastleInTheSky/pseuds/KastleInTheSky
Summary: Kim wanted to have a good time with Trini at the club, she really did. Her obvious feelings for Jason thought otherwise.





	1 Notification Away

Kim was the kind of bad that bought them fake ID's, and Trini was the type of bad that kept the creeps off them while they danced. Even Rangers were allowed to let loose every now and then, right? 

  

They'd been secretly planning this girls' night for weeks at a club a town over, which didn't prove easy to do with three boys trying to bud into their business, never mind the dozens trying to bud into them right now.

 

Kim had tried her best to look her hottest this evening, ignoring a voice in the back of her head telling her it wasn't a good idea. She'd worn a black mini dress adorned with black sequins, smoked out her eyes like she'd been practicing since she was thirteen, and matched it with the boldest fuchsia lipstick she could. She felt sultry, she felt some kind of powerful almost, swaying in the dull orange light of the club. Her head was already  _pretty_  hazy, but she couldn't possibly ignore the multitude of guys ogling her as she danced, smiling at her, some coming up and asking to join. She could almost enjoy it if her head hadn't been somewhere completely different. Kim kept scanning the room, hoping that one time she did, his face would appear there in the sea of endless people. She sipped beer and danced with Trini, but she could never stop searching. She would be having the time of her life, if it weren't for...

 

"Oye vato!" Trini yelled to one guy with his shirt half-unbuttoned stumbling towards Kim, swatting him away with both hands, snapping Kim out of a trance.

"She's not interested!"

Trini was usually a happy drunk, but tonight, she was in mama-bear mode, definitely on the defensive. The guy slurred something nastily towards Trini as he retreated, but Trini seemed to pay no mind. Kim grabbed both Trini's hands in hers, attempting to pull her closer so she could hear the snarky comments she had for that guy, but took one step onto tall black pumps and instantly buckled her ankle. Kim toppled forward, and though with Kim in heels she was foot shorter, amazingly Trini managed to keep Kim from  _really_  eating shit.

 

The two girls looked at one another and both laughed, Kim's a dizzy hiss and Trini's more of a concerned chuckle.

 

"Let's get some water," Trini yelled into Kim's ear. Kim's knee-jerk reaction was resist.

"I'm fine!" she yelled back. "I like  _barely_  had anything!"

"Girl," Trini laughed, pulling Kim towards the bar, "who said it was for you?! I'm drunk too, chill!" 

 

Kim playfully nudged Trini and the two girls staggered over to bar. It was swarming with people, talking in groups, some more rowdy than others. 

 

"Stay here," Trini said, just as they were on the outskirts of the mass surrounding the bar. "I can wiggle my way to the front, I'm little!"

 

Without giving Kim much time to react, Trini let go of Kim's hand and slithered away into the crowd, leaving Kim alone for the first time all night. She would have felt more vulnerable being by herself here if she didn't have it in her now to kick the ass of anyone who tried to pull something. Still, it was weird. Kim looked around anxiously at first, then inquisitively, seeing once again if somewhere his face would just show up to keep her company. He was probably why she felt so uncomfortable being here, deep down, she'd sensed that. If Trini hadn't asked her first, she may have just asked him. Kim sighed heavily, gripping her own shoulders as if in this hell of a thousand people, she was cold. In her drunken state, she'd been wracking her brain all night for a reason to call, but she had nothing. All she could do was stand here and hope he'd show up to be with her.

 

Until he did, kind of.

 

Kim felt her cell phone vibrate from the small satchel she wore around her shoulder, and whipped it out after barely a second, and there he was, inadvertently.

 

_jlscott11 just shared a post_

Jason wasn't calling out to her directly, but it was something. Kim unlocked her phone and opened her Instagram, feeling a shit-eating grin stapling itself onto her face as she did. He was the first post on her feed. 

 

_Great night to be out on the docks_ , the caption read, followed by  _#gonefishin_.

 

It was objectively a terrible picture, a spontaneously taken selfie, no doubt. Jason had his back to one tall light fixture a ways off on the shore, and his face was almost completely cascaded in shadow. Still, Kim could make out an innocent smirk on Jason's face, and a broken four-fingered wave was outlined in the soft golden light. 

 

Kim hadn't realized how hard or how long she'd been smiling at her phone examining the picture until she saw someone's finger sliding delicately over the edge of her phone. Her head shot up anxiously to see first Trini's tiny, yellow high-top sneakers, then Trini's crimson red lips twisted into a devilish smirk. In her free hand Trini had her fingers hooked around two bottles of water and one bottle of beer.

 

"What are you doing?" Trini asked ironically, as Kim could tell from the knowing look in Trini's eyes that she'd been found out.

 

Still, Kim wrinkled her forehead, shaking her head slightly in denial.

 

"Nothing!" Kim hissed, but although Trini was drunk, she didn't prove stupid. Trini tightened her finger and pushed down harder on Kim's phone, exposing more of the image it displayed, and peered downward at it.

 

"Oh yeah?" Trini teased, cocking her head now with that same sneer. "I'll tell him you said that."

 

Kim tried to stay collected, internally praying Trini was joking.

 

"Go ahead," Kim pressed sarcastically.

 

Trini caught Kim's bluff right away and attempted to pick her phone out of her own purse. Kim  _needed_ to pretend not to care, but watching Trini type Jason's name into her phone and type out the phrase "Kim says..." was too much for her.

 

"Okay, okay, okay," Kim conceded breathlessly. This satisfied Trini immeasurably, and she slid her phone back into her bag with her smile bigger than it had ever been.

 

"Knew it," Trini smirked. Trini gripped onto Kim's forearm and motioned her over to a small booth that had opened up for them to sit at, and as Kim began to walk, she noticed that the ankle she fell on had been killing her. Still, she let Trini pull her into the booth, pushing one bottle of water to her over the table.

 

The booth was a little removed and therefore a bit quieter, but that didn't stop Trini from using her crowded-bar voice.

"I just don't know why y'all have to be so sneaky about it," Trini exclaimed after the two had settled. 

"Nobody's being  _sneaky_  about anything!" Kim yelled back. "There's nothing to be sneaky about!"

"You guys," Trini began, leaning her elbow onto the table and pointing her finger right at Kim's face.

"You guys will take any opportunity to STARE at each other..."

"It's  _complicated,"_ Kim yelled back. Kim also grabbed the beer front in front of Trini and began to chug some before Trini grabbed it back and chugged the rest.

 

"Kim," Trini began, slamming the bottle down. "Do you like him, yes or no?"

 

" _Trini,"_ Kim mocked as the two girls began laughing again. "It's... It's not about if I like him or not..."

 

"That's a yes," Trini confirmed. Kim shook her head frustrated, but she could feel her cheeks giving her up. She was blushing uncontrollably.

 

"Text him then," Trini responded to herself, not needing the verbal confirmation from Kim.

 

"Why should I text him?" Kim asked, a little sneer forming on her own face. "I thought we were having fun!"

 

Trini rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth. Carefully, she slipped out of the booth again, motioning over to the bar.

 

"Whatever," she conceded, beginning to walk. "I'm gonna go grab more beer since  _someone_ drank half of mine."

 

Kim was alone again at the table, trying fervently to lie to herself and say that she actually didn't want to text Jason, but it was getting hard. Kim pulled her phone out again and opened her Instagram only to scroll down to find Jason's picture. 37 likes already, along with a string of comments from the boys. Kim focused on Jason's face, trying to make clear Jason's eyes from the dark shadow, purposely smiling at him this time. She didn't know what to say, couldn't possibly act cool enough in her current state, but the urge to text him was spilling out of her so fast now that she opened up her Messenger app and typed to him the first thing she could think of, the thing that was most prevalent in her brain at the moment besides him.

 

_My ankle hurts_

Kim set the phone down and waited, for what, she really didn't know. It just made sense to look away from the phone to make the message come back faster. Kim looked around again at the empty faces that surrounded her, and she spotted Trini at the bar conversing happily with the few people next to her. Kim sighed heavily looking at her. She hated it that Trini was so right about her.

 

The table vibrated quickly beneath her, and Kim jolted her head down to look at her phone that lit up finally with a reply from Jason.

 

_Haha oh yeah?_

She didn't know what else she should've expected from him, and she kicked herself for her knee-jerk reaction to text him something stupid. Kim wiped her hand across her forehead, careful not to smear her makeup into her hair. She returned a more casual text.

 

_What are you up to?_

Kim kept the text app open this time, waiting what seemed like forever to see the tiny bubble of dots pop up from Jason's side.

 

_Just finished a little night fishing, how about you?_

Kim chuckled at this. Kim always made fun of Jason for spelling out things most people commonly used shorthand for. She liked to think he did that on purpose now since he knew it amused her.

 

_Snuck out with Trini, we're at a club_

After that sent, Kim felt Trini slide back into her side of the booth. She looked up to see this time Trini had two beers in her hand, and again she slid one over in Kim's direction.

 

"These were free," Trini said. "The guy next to me told me he liked my shoes, and I just ran with it..."

Kim couldn't tell if Trini had finished her thought or not; regardless, the next thing Kim knew, Trini had her eyes locked on Kim's phone on the table with Messenger opened.

 

"Did you..." Trini began, looking up to see Kim's slightly mortified, smiling face.

"You did!" Trini exclaimed.

Kim grabbed the phone again to check for a response while Trini bombarded her with questions about what Kim had been saying. She had two responses from Jason waiting.

 

_Oh boy,_ he said.

_How did you get there?_

_Ew took a cab_ , she replied.

 

"What's he saying?!" Trini begged, trying fruitlessly to peer over Kim's phone.

 

"Nothing!" Kim yelled, grabbing her beer and swigging. "He's texting back pretty quick though."

 

"Maybe he was looking at your Instagram when you texted him," Trini said coyly as she sipped her own beer. Kim kicked her under the table, barely hitting the bottom of Trini's dangling feet. Kim's phone vibrated again.

 

_That's not what I meant,_ Jason sent.  _You're 17._

_Oh lol_ , Kim replied.  _We got fakes obviusly. Don't pretend like u don't have one_

_I wasn't going to lol_ , Jason replied.

 

"You should invite him," Trini suggested.

"NO," Kim responded boisterously. "I don't want him to see me like this!"

"Why not?", Trini asked. "You look hot!"

"You know what I mean!" Kim retorted. "I'm dehydrated, my ankle hurts, and I haven't reapplied my lipstick in two hours!"

 

"I haven't reapplied my lipstick in two hours," Trini mocked in a baby voice. Another set of vibrations echoed from the phone. Both Trini's and Kim's mouths fell open at the prospect of a double text.

 

_Are you okay?_

"Well...?" Trini prodded.

"He said 'are you okay'," Kim answered. Trini chuckled loudly.

"Yeah, tell him you're okay because Trini's taking care of your drunk ass!"

Kim's feet swung under the table trying to find Trini's legs again.

 

_Of course i'm ok,_ Kim wrote. _A few drunk assholes but noting a cant handel_

_Haha good_ , Jason replied. _Just use your Ranger training if someone bothers you_

_Pretty sure that braeks rule number 2,_ Kim wrote. 

 

_Haha I guess you're right. You may be a better leader than me_

Kim blushed feverishly again at the last text.

"Okay, okay," Trini blurted, "WHAT. IS. HE SAYING?"

 

Kim put the phone down and Trini grabbed it to read the conversation. Kim grunted, slamming her elbows down on the table and pulling her hands tightly along her hairline as Trini read.

 

"Is it really complicated?" Kim asked suddenly, not sure if it was directed at Trini or to herself.

 

"You're  _making_  it complicated," Trini answered with her eyes never leaving the phone. "If you like him, you can just tell him!"

 

"What if it throws off the... dynamic or whatever?" Kim asked. "What if I make it weird?"

 

"Kim, what makes you think that everyone else doesn't see exactly what I told you about?" Trini admitted, sliding the phone back to Kim. 

 

Kim began to answer, but as she did she noticed a new text bubble she didn't remember seeing before giving the phone to Trini, and what made her lose her breath was that the text was sent from her.

 

_Your pic was cute_

Not terrible, but Kim was still completely flustered.

"What did you do that for!?" Kim shouted at Trini, who was giggling herself into a frenzy.

 

"If you weren't gonna do it, someone had to," Trini mustered through her laughing and Kim play-slapping at her. Kim shook her head as she tried to cover herself.

 

_Who taught you how to take a selfie, the fish?_

Kim continued shaking her head as she chugged the rest of her beer and pushed herself up and out of the booth, her bare legs pulling like Velcro against the leather seat.

 

"Oh, what, now you're mad at me?" Trini pouted, looking up at Kim.

 

"No," Kim replied. "I'm just gonna go reapply my lipstick."

 

Kim stuck her tongue out playfully at Trini, and Trini returned the favor as Kim pushed her way through the crowd towards the bathroom. The more the stepped on her weak ankle, the more it hurt. Kim limped like a wounded gazelle passing groups of men attempting to speak to her, but she pressed on until she reached the small alcove where the bathrooms were.  

_Ouch_  

_Think you can do better?_

 

Kim saw Jason's text as she entered the ladies room. Despite the mass of people out on the floor, the bathroom was surprisingly desolate. Kim put the phone in her purse for a moment as she assessed her situation in the mirror. Her lipstick definitely needed reapplication, and she grabbed the little tube out of her purse and did just that. Her dress still looked neat, her hair hadn't gotten too frizzy. She still looked great, she thought, great enough that she actually contemplated answering Jason's challenge. 

 

She inhaled deeply and huffed it out, focusing on her own face in the mirror before reaching for her phone again. She knew it seemed stupid and desperate, but she was drunk and she was going to send Jason a damn good selfie. She first lifted the front facing camera up to her face, but the lighting somehow didn't look good enough for her. She examined the bathroom, looking for a pocket of space she could perhaps take a better picture. Adjacent to the bathroom door she'd come through, Kim spotted a full length mirror, and above it was a single florescent bulb exactly above where she would be standing. Not ideal, but it would be the best option here.

 

Kim hobbled over to the mirror, hoping no one would smack her with the door as she stood there. She'd have to act quickly. The phone was still in her hand, and she switched the camera side so it was now pointing towards her reflection. She knew all the good selfie rules like she knew her home address - keep the phone high, angle chin up, stick your butt out, twist your foot out to the side. She would've done the latter anyway since her ankle was already out of commission. She held the pose for a moment and then quickly snapped her picture before moving away from the door. 

 

Kim's vision was a little blurry, and she knew that, but the picture still looked pretty good. Almost without thinking, she attached it to her message thread with Jason and sent it with a caption:

 

_You tell me_

After she sent the message she really let it sink in that she'd just sent Jason Scott a pretty sexy selfie and began to sweat and scream silently at herself. She thought about texting back "oops, wrong person", but she didn't want him to think that she'd send that kind of thing to anyone else. 

 

Groaning she threw her phone back into her bag, frustrated that all she can do was wait for a response. In the meantime she figured she would actually use the bathroom for it's original intent. When she was finished washing her hands, about four minutes after she'd sent the text, she still had no response. Jason had not taken this long to reply to her messages the entire time she'd known him, let alone tonight. She figured she'd _really_  really must have crossed a weird line this time. She opening her picture to full screen. Was it a bad picture? Did she pick weird lighting? It was probably out of line, she figured. She's spent so much time worrying about whether or not she liked Jason,  and yet somehow she supposed she never really considered whether Jason liked  _her_. Utterly dejected, she figured it'd be best to make her way back out to Trini and drink until she'd forgotten about it.

 

Kim exited the bathroom and passed the same guys catcalling her, actively wishing she wasn't too drunk and wounded to give them a piece of her mind. From a distance, she noticed Trini standing away from the table, their empty beer bottles on the table and their waters in her hand. She was faking a smile through a conversation with a guy about as short as her, and when Trini spotted Kim she fiercely waved her over.

 

"We gotta go!" Trini yelled, dismissing herself from her conversation. "Our ride's here!"

"Our wh..."

When she was close enough however, Trini just grabbed Kim's arm again and led her out towards the exit.

"Why are we leaving?" Kim yelled up to Trini. "Did you call a cab?"

 

Her questions fell on deaf ears until Trini had pulled Kim into the vestibule. Kim paused for a moment, shaking Trini off so she could make sure she still had all her belongings. Kim heard Trini burst outside the doors, and for the second time tonight Trini said something that practically paralyzed Kim with anxiety.

 

"JASON!", she heard Trini yell.

 

Kim's ankle almost completely gave out from under her at the sound of Jason's name as her head exploded, trying to figure out how the hell Jason knew they were here. Sheepishly Kim pushed open the door and stepped outside to see Jason's old red truck right in front of the club, with Trini hugging him tightly around the waist. Jason seemed to be whispering something down to Trini before Trini flung herself into the backseat of Jason's truck. Once she was gone, Jason's eyes focused on Kim, playfully smirking in her direction.

 

"Hey there," he smiled.

"How did you know we were here?", Kim question, limping closer to him.

"Well," Jason began, his grinning doubling in size. "I'm a superhero...:

Jason wrapped his left arm all the way around his body to point into the back of his truck.

"...and Trini asked me to come pick you guys up."

"That's not what I said!", Trini yelled invisibly from the truck.

"What did she say?", Kim asked Jason.

Jason shyly opened his mouth to speak, but Trini called out again.

"I said 'come get your girl!'", she screamed. " _SOMEONE_  had to do it!"

Jason laughed timidly, and Kim couldn't help but join him.

"Nice outfit," Jason said finally, his eyes concentrated right at hers.

 

Kim rolled her eyes, folding her arms in front of her.

"Was that supposed to be sincere?", she asked sarcastically.

Jason cocked one eyebrow up at her.

"You tell me," Jason quipped.

 

Kim slumped her shoulder, looking at Jason agape. He'd seen it, she thought. Oh god, he  _had_ seen it. Jason seemingly read the look of nervousness on Kim's face and added, "How's your ankle?"

 

Kim sighed heavily, thankful for the break in tension.

"I've been better," she admitted.

 

Jason stepped away from the passengers side of his truck gesturing with one hand towards the door.

 

"Think you can get up there okay?"

 

Probably not, Kim thought, but she didn't think she was in a position to have another awkward interaction with Jason, so she winced through the pain as she pulled herself up and into Jason's car. Jason got back in the driver's seat and started the car.

 

"Isn't your licence still suspended?", Kim asked and the engine revved and Jason began to pull out.

"Six more months," Jason confirmed. 

"Then..." Kim began, but stopped herself. She quietly turned away from him and paid attention to the road, not that she could see it exactly straight. 

 

The ride home was only about ten minutes long. The three were mostly quiet for the duration of the trip, save for Trini's labored breathing as she slept in the back seat. The two would be sleeping at Kim's house since Kim's parents were both away. Jason knew the way to Kim's house; she wasn't sure exactly when she'd told him where she lived, but she probably had at some point. Jason pulled up in front innocuously; the street was otherwise quiet and empty. Kim got out of the car first, then let Trini out of the back. In a half-yell, half-whisper, Trini bid Jason adieu and ran up to Kim's front door. Kim stayed behind, leaving the door open to Jason's car.

 

"You guys gonna be alright?" Jason asked her. His arm was drapped over the seat Kim had sat in as he leaned out towards her.

"Yeah...", Kim began, looking over to Trini leaning against the threshold of the door. "She'll be fine."

 

"What about you?", Jason asked. Kim turned to meet his eyes, leaning herself against the open door.

 

"As soon as I get out of these shoes, I should be okay," she smirked. The two held each other's gaze for a long moment, and Kim could feel herself sobering up somehow in the brisk evening air. She spoke again.

"Sorry about all those texts earlier," she said. "I guess I get a little chatty."

 

"Anytime," Jason smirked. "I'll make sure to up my selfie game for next time, though."

Kim giggled softly and backed away from the car, closing the door quietly and looking at Jason this time through the open window. 

 

"I, uh, better us get us inside," she whispered. Kim tip-toed backwards towards her front porch and offered Jason a subtle wave. Jason offered another four-fingered wave back to her.

"Goodnight, Kim," he called out, watching Kim make it all the way to the door and inside the house before pulling away.

 

Kim had taken off her shoes immediately as Trini made a beeline for Kim's downstairs bathroom. Kim had just hung her bag up on the edge of a kitchen chair when she heard the familiar sound of her phone vibrating. As Trini yelled something to her from the bathroom, Kim picked through her purse for her phone, and, upon reaching it and reading the message displayed, became so utterly giddy that she couldn't help but chuckle breathlessly to herself.

 

On the screen was a text from Jason.

 

_You look beautiful._


End file.
